Cortez Masto Attends Lake Tahoe Electric Transportation Forum, Discusses Her New Electric Vehicle Bill Package

FTP for TV stations of her remarks is available here . Stateline, Nev. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) attended the 4 th annual Lake Tahoe Electric Transportation Forum to speak with advocates, businesses, and Tahoe organizations about Nevada’s leadership in the clean energy economy. She also discussed the three bills she recently introduced to make electric vehicles and other clean transportation technologies more accessible to consumers. Below are her remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning! I am grateful to have the opportunity to join you today and hear more about all the good work that you are doing to support clean transportation in the Tahoe Basin and throughout the Silver State. I want to extend a special thank you to Kevin for his hard work organizing the Lake Tahoe Electric Transportation Forum. I am grateful for the time you put into organizing such an important conversation about expanding access to electric transportation in the State of Nevada. The industry is lucky to have such a beautiful venue to gather and collaborate! Like all of you, I know that clean transportation isn’t just about expanding access to electric vehicles and installing charging ports. We also need to ensure that we have a strong domestic supply chain for everything from critical minerals to battery manufacturing. You have my support in every step of this process. By bolstering our clean transportation industry we’re doing so much more than putting cars on the road – we’re creating good-paying jobs, helping Nevadans get where they need to go, combating climate change, and bringing down costs for everyone. I’ve been interested in the clean energy industry, particularly the critical minerals supply chain, since my time as Nevada’s Attorney General. While in office, I traveled extensively in all 17 of Nevada’s counties – something I still do each year – and I saw how important the mining industry is to our rural communities. Since then, the electric vehicle supply chain in Nevada, especially Northern Nevada, has expanded dramatically. Following the 2008 recession, the Silver State made historic investments in battery manufacturing. In 2016, Gigafactory Nevada opened in Storey County, creating tens of thousands of jobs and putting Nevada on the frontline of the clean energy economy with our partners at Tesla and Panasonic. The regional industry has only continued to expand, and I’ve had the opportunity to tour everything from battery recycling facilities with ten employees to manufacturing operations that are supporting thousands of workers. Nevada is leading the clean energy revolution in the U.S. and hosts the nation’s most complete “lithium loop” needed for lithium battery manufacturing and recycling. That’s one reason why I like to call it the Innovation State. Since being elected to the Senate in 2016, I have been committed to fighting for Nevada’s zero-emission transportation industry. Over the past ten years, I’ve seen our summers get even hotter, our fire seasons grow more severe, and our drought worsen. But on top of expanding clean energy generation, I’ve also seen our clean transportation options become more accessible. I’ve seen Tahoe roll out its first electric transit buses and EV charging ports go up in towns as remote as Panaca, Nevada. And I’ve seen our country’s clean energy manufacturing industry boom. That’s why I’m so excited to be here today – to talk about the work we’ve already done to help drive investment and interest in clean transportation, and to discuss what we still need to do. Some of the legislation supporting electric vehicles that I’ve worked on during my time in the Senate as part of my Innovation State Initiative were the bills I passed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law . These laws extended tax credits for consumers purchasing both new and used electric vehicles and expanded needed charging infrastructure. The IRA and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law put this cutting-edge, cost-saving technology in the hands of more working families. These laws also expanded electric options for public transportation and school buses. But the support didn’t stop there – these historic laws also created grants for battery and critical minerals programs, providing meaningful federal support for every step of the electric transportation supply chain. Since 2022, we have seen the benefits of not only these policies, but the message they sent that the federal government was invested in putting this technology in the hands of more Americans. In fact, over the past five years, EV registrations have increased by nearly 420 percent in the Silver State! Now, the current Administration has sought to illegally hamper this progress. But I’m not done fighting. No matter who the President is, I’m going to keep working to help Nevada families access electric transportation. In fact, this month, I introduced a package of three bills to make electric vehicles and other clean transportation technologies more accessible to consumers throughout the country. This package included my Cleaner TRAILS Initiative , which would make it easier for travelers to use electric vehicles on public lands. It would add zero-emission fueling infrastructure at National Parks and U.S. Forest Service Sites – including sites here in Tahoe – and near airports. This new initiative would help everyone from international visitors to families on the great American road trip travel without facing spiking gas prices. By supporting EV infrastructure at these tourist destinations, we can help make electric vehicles a real and easy option for all types of travelers.  And I’m not just talking about cars – my Cleaner TRAILS Initiative would support electric bikes, boats, and ATVs as well! My bill package also includes the Clean Transportation Jobs and Development Act which strengthens the clean energy and transportation supply chain by supporting domestic critical mineral mining and battery manufacturing and recycling. It also invests in research and development to accelerate improving technologies to help batteries go farther and for all of these exciting technologies to become more affordable to the consumer. Among the additional provisions included in my bill package, there is language to restore the consumer tax credits for the purchase of electric vehicles and to install charging equipment. Now is the time to move forward on electric vehicles, not backward. Gas prices are on the rise, and the consequences of dependence on fossil fuels are becoming more apparent. The choices that we make today will impact generations of Nevadans. Increased electric vehicle use will reduce pollution, combat climate change, and help keep Lake Tahoe Blue for years to come. The advancements we’re making also support our national defense and our global economic competitiveness. Batteries and critical minerals are vital to everything from equipment to keep our soldiers safe, to our everyday consumer technologies like cell phones. I’ve never been someone who is going to tell Nevadans they have to abandon their gas-powered cars. But together, we are making EVs an easy, cost-effective, attractive choice for Nevadans from all walks of life. And getting EVs on the road lessens our demand for oil and gas at a time when gas prices are at an all-time high. That’s what’s so exciting about this work! Every day, I see the benefits of hard work and innovation, and I know you all do as well. And thank you for the jobs and opportunities you’re creating to diversify our Nevada economy. We can’t continue this work alone. It requires collaboration up and down the supply chain and between the private and public sectors. That’s why I am so grateful to have all of you here today. Thank you all again for having me, and I hope that you have a productive event. ###